The Costello School Crossborough Hill, London Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 4AL

School report The Costello School Crossborough Hill, London Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 4AL Inspection dates 6–7 March 2018 Overall effectiveness Requires improvement Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good Summary of key findings for parents and pupils This is a school that requires improvement Overall, pupils do not make the progress they Many parents and carers are not sure how well should. their children are doing. Teachers’ use of the system lacks precision. Disadvantaged pupils do not make strong progress. They lag behind their classmates. Teaching is inconsistent across the school. The differences between their performance and Many pupils are fortunate to have a good other pupils nationally are not diminishing experience. Other pupils are hampered by quickly. weaker teaching and make slower progress. The most able pupils, and those who join the Frequent changes in personnel over the past school with high levels of attainment, do not go three academic years have led to instability in on to excel consistently in their GCSE the school’s leadership. examinations. Some parents, and a few staff, who raised Results in English, at GCSE level in science, and legitimate and well-founded concerns were not for many pupils in humanities and languages listened to until the school’s decline was are strong. In other subjects they are not as evident in published information. good as they should be. The governing body has been through an A new system to measure pupils’ progress and unhelpful period of turbulence. Governors, until attainment is yet to enable teachers to account recently, did not hold leaders to account. They accurately or convincingly for outcomes in their did not exercise their duties with appropriate classes. levels of professionalism. The school has the following strengths The pastoral care of pupils is good and is aided The school is an inclusive community which by a dedicated and committed team. celebrates individual pupils’ differences, and promotes tolerance and equality effectively. The school has a strong curriculum, with a small but impressive vocational element. The behaviour of the vast majority of pupils is Leaders are increasingly tailoring the good and contributes well to the good order of curriculum to the specific needs of each pupil. the school. Full report What does the school need to do to improve further? Raise the performance and attainment of disadvantaged pupils by: – continuing with the successful strategies that have increased their rates of attendance – focusing teaching even more directly on addressing their remaining barriers to learning – targeting the pupil premium even more closely on tried and tested improvement strategies. Challenge the most able pupils and those with high prior attainment to make rapid progress and achieve greater numbers of GCSE grades 7 to 9 by: – setting even higher expectations of what such pupils can achieve – ensuring that the strong practice that exists in some areas of the school is distributed more widely – insisting that teachers prepare work that extends such pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding and deepens their ability to reason and study independently. Strengthen the quality of governance by: – stabilising and consolidating the current governance arrangements – increasing governors’ engagement with training. A review of the governance arrangements was commissioned by the school’s existing trustees in the autumn of 2017. Inspection report: The Costello School, 6–7 March 2018 Page 2 of 12 Inspection judgements Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement The current arrangements for senior leadership are unusual. The headteacher was not present during the inspection. Leadership of the inspection process was undertaken by two acting co-headteachers. These personnel are employees of the Bohunt Education Trust. BET is to be commended for agreeing to provide senior leadership support, at short notice, in January 2018. BET is currently providing a range of educational services to the governing body of The Costello Academy Trust. These services are being delivered while the governing body negotiates the inclusion of The Costello School into BET’s multi-academy trust. This process is intended to conclude by 1 May 2018. All headteacher functions are now carried out by the two acting co-headteachers. They are supported by the remaining senior leaders. All leaders are clear about their roles. They share a common purpose and that is to return The Costello to the school parents believe it should be. Parents are rightly concerned about the turbulence in leadership in the recent past. They are generally optimistic about the future direction of the school. One parent commented, ‘…looking forward to positive changes being made by new headteachers’. Leaders have focused on raising the standards of teaching overall, and reducing the proportion of weak or less-effective teaching. Effective systems for school improvement have been put in place. It is too early to judge whether they have had significant impact on standards. The acting co-headteachers have quickly acquired a realistic evaluation of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the school. They know what is working well and what needs to improve urgently. Senior leaders responsible for the pastoral care of pupils have been unwavering in their attempts to maintain good behaviour and strong levels of well-being among pupils. They have, over time, evolved highly effective systems for identifying vulnerable pupils. They have a proven track record of enabling the vast majority of these pupils to complete their education successfully. They have also contributed to improvements to pupils’ rates of attendance. The special educational needs coordinator is held in high regard by all members of the community. Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities are cared for well and are supported to make steady progress from their individual starting points. Leaders ensure that the additional funding the school receives is used increasingly wisely. The pupil premium and literacy and numeracy funding, as well as funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are spent on personnel or resources that support specific learning needs. In keeping with the school’s inclusive ethos, some of the pupil premium is used to fund cultural activities for pupils who would otherwise miss out. Some of the money is used to purchase generic materials which cannot be Inspection report: The Costello School, 6–7 March 2018 Page 3 of 12 guaranteed to make a difference to the removal of individual pupils’ barriers to learning. The school has a good curriculum. It supports pupils’ learning in traditional academic subjects. It also gives those pupils who wish to the chance to follow a vocational pathway. Leaders are keen to offer a completely open choice to pupils at key stage 4 so that they can all prepare to follow their career aspirations. Leaders make sure that pupils’ academic or vocational studies are supported by a wide- ranging and rich programme of personal, social, health and economic education. They also encourage staff to make available a good range of extra-curricular activities. There is, for example, a good choice of musical ensembles and sports clubs in which pupils can participate. Teachers ensure that the whole curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to explore ideas and to learn about other people’s experiences, beliefs and values. Pupils are taught about the dangers of radicalisation and extremism. They are also taught positively about democracy, the rule of law and the importance of equality. Governance of the school The current governing body has been in place for a very short time. There were three changes to the chair of the governing body in the last calendar year. Governance requires improvement because: – it has been through a period of considerable turbulence – a comprehensive audit of governors’ skills has only just taken place and is yet to result in decisive action – not all of the recommendations of the thorough and accurate external review of governance, completed in January 2018, have been implemented as yet – previous governing bodies did not hold senior leaders to account rigorously enough – governors were slow to respond to signs that the school was not doing as well as it should – governors did not always address adequately the well-founded concerns of some parents and a small minority of staff – despite the best efforts of the experienced and efficient clerk to the governing body, historically, governors were slow to meet contemporary expectations relating to governor training. Safeguarding The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Pupils are safe in the school. Visitors are checked in via a secure system. Staff control the exit from school carefully, as traffic, including service buses, passes close by the front gate. Governors check that safeguarding procedures are in place. However, they are too willing to take external advice uncritically. They do not match the school’s work to their Inspection report: The Costello School, 6–7 March 2018 Page 4 of 12 own understandings of clearly published current frameworks. For example, it is unusual not to record on the single central register the

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